Public opinion in Hamilton & the rest of Canada concerning the CBC

Feb 1, 2012

Introduction

On November 1, 2011, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation announced plans to introduce a new digital service in Hamilton in the spring of 2012. This new service would begin to address the absence of the national public broadcaster in this densely populated part of Canada.

To measure the local appetite for and attitudes about the CBC in general, Friends of Canadian Broadcasting conducted a special opinion survey of a representative sample of adult residents of the Hamilton area as part of a national opinion research project[1].

With no local station, Hamilton is a huge population centre of close to one million people that is underserved by the CBC.

A sizeable majority of Hamiltonians would like CBC to change this. The data show a strong appetite for more and better local service from the CBC and lower levels of satisfaction with programs the CBC currently delivers from Toronto. The research also found that Hamiltonians are generally more intense in their views about CBC funding and government policy concerning the CBC and culture, compared to people living elsewhere in Canada. The research found that Hamiltonians would like CBC funding increased or maintained.

This report also presents data from the survey comparing the attitudes of Hamilton residents with Canadians generally.

[1] The online survey of 2022 adult Canadians conducted from November 4 to 10 has a margin of error of +/- 2.18%, 19 times out of 20. Hamilton data are based on a sample of 404 adults living in the area and have a margin of error of +/- 4.87%, 19 times out of 20. The survey was designed and administered by political scientists Peter Loewen, Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto and Daniel Rubenson, Associate Professor at Ryerson University. Fieldwork for the poll was done by Vision Critical on the Angus Reid Forum National Panel. Totals may not always add to 100 because of rounding.